Overall Outlook: In January 2006, Bob Castellini purchased the Reds and his front off help lead the team to their first postseason in 15 years. It was the first winning season for the Reds since 2000. The team’s performance helped the Reds have their best year at the box office since opening Great American Ballpark in 2003. The team jumped from 27th to 20th in MLB attendance. The team hit the interleague jackpot with the New York Yankees in 2011. The team announced its first price increase since 2008 at an average $1.80 per season seat and 10 fireworks throughout the 2011 season. As I mentioned prior in the Cubs, Cardinals, and Brewers posts the 4 team race for their division will help them all at the box office. The Reds have the easiest April schedule in the NL with only 6 out of their first 37 games against 2010 teams over .500. They will need it as they face the Yankees & Rays in interleague. The Reds will see one of the biggest ticket sales increases in baseball this year along with Texas. I project ticket sales to rise 20% to 2.5 million. The team should jump another 5-7 spots in overall MLB attendance this season. With that revenues will rise even more as they’ve raised ticket prices.

SPECIAL BUSINESS OF SPORTS NETWORK REPORTS:The Labor Battle in the NFL. See BizOfFootball.com for details

David Simmons is a graduate of the University of Central Florida who worked in the front office of the Los Angeles Dodgers over 4 seasons and has a decade of ticketing experience.. He serves as CFO for Players For The Planet and currently resides in Baltimore. You can follow David on Twitter @davidesimmons